Thursday 20 February 2014 13.38 EST
First published on Thursday 20 February 2014 13.38 EST

Last Instalment, the third-favourite for next month's Cheltenham Gold Cup, may be subjected to a drug test before the race at the request of the British Horseracing Authority. The measure is one option being considered by racing's ruling body as it seeks ways to take the sting out of the latest steroids story to afflict the sport.

It was a depressing development for the BHA, whose officials had been hoping the court might conclude the issue one way or another, allowing them to make an appropriate response before the Festival, jump racing's most high-profile week. Instead, it became clear that a final resolution is many weeks away, with Fenton not even having entered a plea in response to the charges, despite the first court hearing having taken place in December.

Briefly, it seemed as though the BHA might be let off the hook when one of Fenton's owners took what appeared to be a principled stand. Barry Connell, whose The Tullow Tank was widely fancied for the Neptune Hurdle at the Festival, said his horse would not run "until the matter is dealt with" and specifically ruled him out of Cheltenham.

But Fenton's other owners have not followed suit and, even thought The Tullow Tank will stay at his stable near Carrick, the trainer expects to field his strongest ever team at the Festival. Besides Last Instalment, the headline names are Dunguib, a Festival winner in the past, and Value At Risk, among the leading fancies for the Champion Bumper.

"I've always thought that, in Ireland and in England, you're innocent until proven guilty," O'Leary said. "So we'll let justice take its course. He [Fenton] is a friend of ours. Before we made any statement, he assured us of his innocence. We fully believe him. It'll be a talking point, unfortunately. But I don't know. We're innocent, the horse is innocent, he [Fenton] thinks he's innocent, so I don't see the problem."

The BHA is keen to formulate its final position on the matter by the early part of next week, when the Festival will be just a fortnight away. Action against Fenton appears most unlikely, given the necessary respect for the presumption of innocence, so the BHA's twin concerns are to establish whether there is any evidence to suggest that his runners may have been treated with a banned substance and, if not, to do what it can to allay public concern on the subject.

Another Irish trainer, Pat Hughes, is facing similar charges to Fenton in a case that will not be heard before May and there are widespread rumours of pending charges against other trainers, as yet unnamed.

These prosecutions follow one year after the Godolphin trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned from the sport for eight years by the BHA after he admitted giving steroids to many horses at his Newmarket stable.